TRA CSU ExtensionWinter Seasonal newsletter

CSU Extension for the Tri River Area (TRA) is comprised of four counties (Delta, Mesa, Montrose, and Ouray) and three major rivers (Uncompahgre, Gunnison, and Colorado). The population of the TRA area is ~223,627 and ~7200 square miles of everything from mountains to dry lands. The majority of the population reside in the Uncompahgre and Grand Valleys which contain the main cities of Grand Junction, Delta, Ouray and Montrose.

New Agent Spotlight!

Meet our new Agronomy Agent: Seth Urbanowitz

Seth Urbanowitz is an area agronomist with CSU Extension covering Mesa, Delta, Montrose and Ouray Counties. He is currently working with growers on issues related to nutrient cycling and fertility, irrigation management, small grain trials and drybeans. He collaborates with public and private partners, along with CSU research farms and other Extension colleagues to support the agricultural community and solve problems.

He has worked as an agronomist with a farmers’ cooperative in Oregon, as an extension educator in Nevada and on a research farm in South Dakota. He has experience in a variety of specialty and agronomic crop production systems. He has an MS in plant science from South Dakota State, an MS in education from University of Tennessee and a BS in agribusiness economics from Southern Illinois University.

COMMUNITY CONTEST

Send us your BEST winter recipe and have a chance to win a So Easy To Preserve Recipe Book!

2018 Colorado AgrAbility Workshop

Garfield County Ag. Expo

Join us on Feb 3rd, at the Garfield County Fairgrounds in Rifle. The highlight of the event features Temple Grandin as the Key Note Speaker. It's an all day event (9am - 3pm) with several concurrent lectures on soil, fruit trees, livestock, and veterinary issues.

Tickets are REQUIRED and will NOT be sold at the door. This event will sell out, so buy your tickets now!

Seedling Tree Sales

Taking orders now until April. Hurry and get your order in today as inventory is slim!

Distribution dates- Montrose/Ouray and Delta: May 2nd Mesa: May 3rd

Call us at any of our offices to receive an order form or call with any additional questions. Mesa: 970-244-1834 Delta: 970-874-2195 Montrose & Ouray: 970-249-3935

Western Colorado Pest Management Workshop- February 6th-7th, located at Two Rivers Convention Center.

The Western Colorado Pest Management Workshop is conducted annually to provide all licensed pesticide applicators the opportunity to receive the continuing education credits required to maintain their license with CDA.

*Registration for commercial applicators is $100. You must register as a commercial applicator to receive credit in any numbered category.

Seasonal Topic: Slow Cooker

Agriculture & Business Management

Stay tuned for our Spring newsletter that will have Colorado's updated custom rates and budgets!

TRA 4-H Program

Trent Hollister: Mesa County Extension Agent (4-H Youth Development)

Jackie Shea: Delta County Extension 4-H Program Associate

Brandon Creamer: Montrose & Ouray Extension 4-H Program Associate

Nicole Goza: Montrose & Ouray Extension 4-H Program Associate

Here Comes 2018!

Welcome to the Future! The holidays are over, 2017 has rolled out, and we’ve made our New Year’s resolutions for 2018. Yes, the future seems to have arrived.

In the Youth Department of CSU Extension, one of our New Year’s goals is to encourage and support the next generation of youth as they step into leadership positions for the future; you might call them the future’s future?! We do this by offering quality educational programming like 4-H.

In the Tri-River Area, we are proud to have over 1300 active members involved in more than 40 project areas. 4-H traditionally was known to be livestock and crop oriented with projects such as Crop Production, Market Animals, Breeding Animals, and Horses. However, 4-H has always sought to serve many diversified interests and has expanded into many STEM related areas of education as well. 4-H truly has something for everyone – from Cake Decorating to Shooting Sports and it is always expanding; this year Montrose County 4-H is even kicking off a new pilot program for wild mustang training!

Furthermore, 4-H has always encouraged student run leadership. Each county’s program is governed by a County 4-H Council that usually has approx. 10 elected 4-H member officers. These officer teams oversee the business of each county 4-H program and work with the 4-H membership in their counties to promote 4-H, put on district leadership workshops, attend or sponsor 4-H members toward State and National 4-H events, and coordinate 4-H County Fair involvement.

The overall goal of the 4-H program is to enable our youth to learn real-world skills and prepare them for the challenges of today and careers of tomorrow! It really does serve to ‘prepare the future’s Future’.

As 2018 begins, we encourage you to check out local 4-H programming in your area and see if it might be just the right fit for you and your family. Enrollment is open now through May 1st. Contact Delta: 874-2195, Mesa: 244-1834, or Montrose/Ouray: 249-3935 for more information about your county’s 4-H Program or visit us at our webpage www.tra4h.org. We look forward to meeting you in the near future!

STEM & K-12

Barbara Shaw: Regional Extension Specialist – STEM

Nicole Goza: 4H Associate

"Learn By Doing"

The 4-H School Enrichment and Outreach projects are designed to enhance classroom education with experience-based learning—”Learn By Doing”. Classroom-ready projects teach life skills as well as specific subject matter with the help of 4-H Curriculum.

We have a variety of different topics and curriculum we can cover or provide to you! Many of our programs are aligned to CDOE Standards for easy classroom or after school implementation.